"PARKER SMITHSON!" CJ roars, stalking down the hallway doing a remarkably good resemblance of a Lion. The teenager in question, who had frozen when she had yelled her name, now took off, scrambling away from her as fast as his thin body could take him. CJ curses angrily, spinning around till she finds the first person she can yell at; Toby Ziegler. She stomps over to him, causing Toby to raise his eyebrows in amusement, even though CJ is clearly furious as hell about something that probably isn't funny. "I want you in my office and I want you there now." Toby considers this for a moment, tempted to point out he outranks her, but then decides against it because he actually wants to know what the hell all of this is about. CJ absolutely STALKS back to her office and Toby actually bites his lip to keep himself from mentioning that perhaps she should take up a career as a lion trainer. The moment he has crossed the threshold into her office the door behind him is being slammed shut, leaving Toby staring in absolute bewilderment at CJ. "CJ, pardon my language but what the hell is going on?" He demands, confused by the very unlike-CJ behavior that CJ was doing right now. She plops down behind her desk, shoving a newspaper towards him. "How the hell did he not tell me!" She yells. Toby sighs, takes two steps forward and firmly grasps the paper, bringing it back to rest on his lap as he sits and opens it to the article that has circles and exclamation marks around it, chuckling softly. But the article leaves him so angry he can barely see straight, even if he doesn't think that it's for the same reason as CJ is angry. The White House has often been accused of poor hiring practices, with drug addicts and alcoholics strolling through it's corridors. These accusations have always been met with pure hostility but surely no one can argue when you see that The White House is now hiring the scum of the earth to work inside it's walls. Parker Smithson, a 19-year-old child prodigy who works in the communications department, was just discovered to be harboring the secret that it is not, in fact, a man, but was, instead, born FEMALE. How can our government function with freaks and despots calling the shots? More on page five. Toby slams the paper down on the table and tries to lesson the raw anger coursing through every inch of his being.
Across the building, the nineteen-year-old prodigy (he never let them call him that but they had all seen his transcripts and knew how true it was) was fighting against the tendrils of panic swelling up in his chest. He was still wandering the halls, slowly working his way back to Sam's office. Sam takes one look at him and ends his conversation with his secretary, following the smaller man back to his "office." It was really just a closet, with a desk in the back behind the many boxes stacked around the office. It had been a storage room but Sam had decided that Parker needed an office so he had made room for the desk. He sits down on one of the boxes, nodding for the young boy to sit next to him. He does, gratefully, turning his head into the older man's shoulder as he struggles to hold back sobs. Sam wraps an arm around him, muttering softly to the teen as he rummages in his pocket with his other hand to text a short message to another person, a friend of theirs, before pulling both himself and Parker to the ground so they are sitting with their backs against the boxes. Sam wonders, not for the first time, what was IN all of these boxes, before turning his attention back to Parker, pulling the young man closer if at all possible in a failed attempt to keep him anchored, humming softly until Parker's struggling, gasping breathing has softened slightly, quieted, glancing over at the door when Danny Concannon lets himself into the room. He sits down on the other side of Parker, resting one hand gently against his back. Parker flinches slightly then relaxes as soon as he realizes that it is Danny, shifting so he is sitting up straighter. "You shouldn't be here if CJ catches you she will be even more mad, Danny." Danny shrugs, clearly not caring. "I don't give a damn and you know it, kid, so spill." Parker actually whines, causing both of the taller men to shift closer as if their bodies can shield his smaller one from the world even though they've both tried and failed and know that that it won't work but they still won't give up trying. "CJ was pissed as hell at me and I think...what if she knows, guys. What if she found out." He whines softly. Sam stares down at his hands, silently breaking for the smallest of their numbers. He doesn't deserve it damn it Danny or I could handle it better than he could! The boy is blinking with exhaustion and Sam is reminded that the reserved teen had barely slept the night before when he feels Parker's head slump onto his shoulder. He eases the young boy down, pulling a blanket off the top of a box and tossing it over him, getting Parker's head in his lap so he can gently run his fingers through the jet-black hair to soothe the boy. Danny is watching, one of his hands silently resting on Parker's wrist. "I'm going to go, he's right if CJ catches me here I'm going to get yelled at and it's not like that would help anything. I'm going to go catch some rumors in the press room I'll text you tell you what I hear." Sam nods, watching the man go before leaning against the boxes, reminded that he hadn't really slept well the night before, either.
Toby is pacing in circle, eyes locked angrily on CJ. "I really don't see why this matters, CJ. He's a nineteen year old kid who we already know nothing about it's not like he purposely hid this he just...never told us." Cj slams a hand angrily against the table, and if it was anyone other than Toby, the figure across from her probably would have flinched. "The media will have a field day, Toby, and god, the kid isn't ready for this he's a KID for goodness sake he should never be subject to this!" Toby nods in agreement, sighing as he leans back against the seat. "Is there any way that this won't be a big thing?" CJ doesn't even dignify that with a response, standing again so she can pace angrily around the room, snapping out furious sentences every other second and Toby realizes that the woman isn't truly mad at Parker, not really, she probably can't bring herself to be it's hard to be mad at someone who is basically a kicked puppy dog with his golden eyes and jet-black hair and a body that moved as if it was five times his actual age, the haunted look in his eyes leaving Toby wondering what such a young figure could ever have seen to cause that much brokenness and Toby just wants to tell CJ to protect him, damn it, to protect him. But he doesn't, can't. Toby has no idea how long it has been before CJ stops ranting and pacing and stalking, only interjecting the occasional comment. "He can do it, CJ. He's a damn good writer, and a speaker, and literally the smartest person who I have ever met." CJ nods, not looking convinced. Toby moves to stand, too. "I'm going to go find him. He's probably with Sam, they're pretty close. You got any idea how they knew each other before this?" CJ shakes her head, looking somewhat surprised. "They knew each other before the kid got this job?" Toby nods, stalking out of the room and crossing the floor to Sam's office. He's fairly surprised when he sees that there is nobody in the room so he stalks down the office to the door right next to Sam's office, opening it. He almost speaks, but then doesn't, smiling slightly at Sam and Parker, both of them asleep. Sam stirs when Toby moves to sit across from them, causing Parker to sit up against the box, too, looking embarrassed. "S-sorry sir." He stammers softly, head locked against his chest as he stares down at his hands. Sam glances up at Toby to make sure Toby isn't going to start yelling before moving to sit on top of a box. Parker sits diagonally from Toby and Sam, behind his desk, as watching them both intently. Toby opens his mouth to speak but Parker cuts him off. "They know, don't they." He whispers softly. Toby wishes he could say no, wishes he could say CJ was mad about a spelling error in a speech as if that could ever cause her level of fury and knowing that the boy already knows. Of course he knows, they don't call him a genius for nothing and as Toby is thinking all of that but not saying he sees Parker reading his face and the boy just deflates against the seat. Toby doesn't know what to say, so he's surprised when Sam is crossing the room and standing behind the boy with one hand on his shoulder. He's even more surprised when Parker shoots the man a grateful look and realizes for the first time that Sam and Parker are something like brothers. They could be, even, with their slim bodies and dark hair although their eyes couldn't be any different. Sam's are blue and lively and full of happiness and excitement and joy and Parker's are golden, scarred and darken in the way that makes Toby think of the ASPCA commercials that always make his heart break a little as if the boy is trapped behind the bars of a cage and sometimes Toby thinks maybe he is, a cage he can't see. He gets pulled out of his thoughts when he sees that Parker and Sam are having a muttered conversation. Parker looks scared, and annoyed, insisting something while Sam just keeps shaking his head, face calm but determined. "I don't give a damn, little brother, I'm doing this weather you approve or not." Parker sighs, standing next to Sam so he can lean his shoulder against the boy's shoulder with a soft whine. Sam laughs, tucking an arm around him. "There's probably something else you should know, Toby." He says simply, pulling up his other hand to unbutton his shirt so that Toby can see the scars on either side of his chest and he sees the look on Toby's face and he knows that the other man gets it.